Ron Howard himself tweeted moments ago, “I’m beyond grateful to add my voice to the Star Wars Universe after being a fan since 5/25/77…I hope to honor the great work already done & help deliver on the promise of a Han Solo film.”

Howard has worked with Lucasfilm before – on 1988’s Willow, and has won an Oscar for A Beautiful Mind, and is well known for many other films, such as Apollo 13, The DaVinci Code and sequels, Cocoon and more.